Opinion: Congress’s Online Sell-Outs

This transcript has been automatically generated and may not be 100% accurate.

... welcome back to Opinion Journal why Mary Kissel ... there's nothing share in life and death and taxes but do Americans really needed Internet sales tax ... on top of what we are and pay ... even more portly are Republicans going to support this bill ... as it moves to the Senate this week ... assistant editorial page editor James Freeman joins me now is James ... Republicans are testing a system issue of fairness were on the purses and mortar ... retailers have to collect this tax the Internet ... retailers don't use this solution here ... a proportional to the ... prom ... I would say no ... you're right said basically a fight or whether ... we should give new power to state and local governments to reach outside their borders in force a remote in are net sellers to collect their sales taxes for them and a ... in terms of what what is the upside if you really think increasing tax collections is a great thing ... are you talking about that twenty twenty five billion year coming out of consumers' pockets and a setting in state local government ... one percent of what state local governments collect each year in revenue so op ... it's not a huge game changer on the revenue side of the light more government revenue but the of the risk is that you put incredible burdens their ninety six hundred state and local governments and a ... if a small Web retailer had to ... be answered all those governments pretty messy ... you've been working her sources on Capitol Hill and a lot of Republicans are saying to you don't worry ... when making fixes in this pellets can be very simple you will have to deal with thousands of jurisdictions ... is that really what's going on behind the scenes the promise of that is that of that software can now make it all simple for every retailer but ... you wonder about the dog ... if there's any dispute to ... the bill the base bill says ... any state ... I'm ... basically each year could all of the day with her ... so ... that's fifteen with an audience the year plus whatever the IRS has in mind for your business in it I think that's probably enough to kill some businesses but ... if that's not enough ... but now that the piece of legislation that's going to be voted on termite ... has been rewritten essentially in the Senate back room by Harry Reid ... and what he's included in the new definition of state's use of any tribal organization according ... to a part of the U S code have ... the House resources Committee there are almost six hundred ... tribes and wrecking federally recognized tribes and Alaska Native corporations so ... the definition of state ... it looks like we could be talking about potentially six hundred dollars per year If give everyone of these taxing authorities wanted to come after him is like in this well we got lesson and laughed our Republicans to vote this ruinous and in the last one it's can be interesting ... just how many votes it does get a sentiment that will probably pass I think a lot of people on the fence and a house that they just look at the cost of this in terms of ... potentially really screwing up Interstate Commerce an unprepared for go for ... storing up interstate commerce let's hope they don't do that since school is acting up as it is ... this is the editorial page editor James Freeman thanks so much for her on the show ...